As any parent will surely attest, the pacifier is an indispensable piece of equipment in the raising of a child. A simple pacifier allows a parent to satisfy a child's natural instinct to suckle, which is an activity that has been proven to calm and quiet the child. This enables a care-giver to obtain peace of mind and time to do other tasks while also assisting the child to relax and sleep.
As with any item exposed to a child the caregiver must ensure that a pacifier is kept as clean and germ-free as possible. However, it is extremely difficult to determine whether or not a pacifier is clean or dirty by simply looking at it. While ideally pacifiers are cleaned at a sink with soap and plenty of running hot water, access to a sink having soap and running hot water is not always possible. As an example, the ideal items are not available when a parent is running to the store or performing other errands away from home. At such times some parents simply resort to placing the nipple in their own mouth to remove dirt and contaminants. In actuality this only exposes the parent to germs and bacteria on the pacifier while leaving behind a wealth of other germs and bacteria which can result in thrush and other problems for the child.
Accordingly, there exists a need for devices that can provide cleaned and sanitized pacifiers without using running water, while still supporting a healthy infant, and without creating health risks to care providers. Beneficially, such a device would be both portable, easy to use, and provide for save pacifier storage when they are not in use.